A Minister for loneliness: a new approach to save humanity

On the 16th of January, Theresa May, United Kindom’s Prime Minister, has appointed Tracey Crouch, a Minister to tackle the loneliness problem which is suffered by almost 9 million adults in the UK.

According to studies done by the UK government in 2017, there are around 200,000 people aged 75 and over who haven’t talked to a single person in over a month. These people suffer from severe loneliness, which is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes in one day!

The approach was first suggested by Jo Cox, a former member of the parliament, before being shot and stabbed several times in an unfortunate accident.

In a statement, Theresa May said: “Jo Cox recognized the scale of loneliness across the country and dedicated herself to doing all that was in her power to help those affected.”

The government stated that the Office of National Statistics will prepare a method of measuring loneliness, and an appropriate fund will be set up to help tackle the problem.

Mother Teresa once said that loneliness is the most terrible poverty. Could this be an effective solution especially that it is the first time to be applied?

In the future, would we hear about a ministry of loneliness in every country’s government?